School staffs, cops unite for security trainings

KINGSTON — In a dimly lit hallway of the shuttered Anna Devine Elementary School on Thursday, a group from the City of Kingston's SWAT team inched down the corridor in a diamond formation.

James Nani

KINGSTON — In a dimly lit hallway of the shuttered Anna Devine Elementary School on Thursday, a group from the City of Kingston's SWAT team inched down the corridor in a diamond formation.

The tightly grouped men moved slowly from classroom to classroom in the school — which was closed down this year as part of a district consolidation — where posters of men with guns were taped to doors.

Dressed in black gear from helmet to boot, each member held an item meant to help them spot, protect them from, or take down an active shooter. A flashlight. A shield. A gun.

"This is our 40-hour training week," said Training Officer Andrew Zell. "This is where we get to see where our strengths and weaknesses are."

It was just one day of a rigorous training regimen for Kingston's Emergency Services Unit, or SWAT team, that trains all year.

And it's just part of the ongoing vigilance police throughout the region maintain in an environment where school shootings have jumped to the forefront of the national consciousness.

At least one member of Kingston's ESU unit is working at any given time during a shift, says ESU Sgt. Michael Bonse. And ESU members, retired and working, are also school resource officers for Kingston's school district.

Some members are also Police Academy instructors, who help to train other police in tactics across the county. But in an active shooter situation in a school, Bonse said, those inside the school also need to be prepared.

This type of training has happened ever since the infamous Columbine shooting in Colorado in the 1990s.

Similar tragedies have happened since. Bonse said that when he got word of the shooting in Sandy Hook, he and his team were inside a vacant school, training in active-shooter techniques.

But after the Columbine shootings, police realized that waiting for a SWAT team wasn't enough. Whoever arrives on scene first needs to be ready to go inside right away.

"A life is at risk every 30 seconds," said Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti.

Teachers and other staff in the city district also go through drills, Tinti said.

"(If) they hear shots coming down from the hall, teachers are trained to respond to that," Tinti said.

Orange County Sheriff's Office Capt. Dennis Barry said that over the past two years, his officers have given training to seven law enforcement agencies in the county, one outside the county, nine dispatching agencies and five school districts. And more training is on the way.

Saugerties Police Chief Joe Sinagra said he makes sure his officers know the local schools, are trained in basic concealment techniques and learn how to go through a building in a tactical way.

Sinagra said Columbine changed the way police answer active-shooter situations.

"We have morphed from Columbine where it was 'sit and wait,' to the first four cops on the scene form a diamond formation, go in and terminate," Sinagra said.

Two-hour training sessions have also been given to school monitors, Sinagra said, to teach them what should be done in a active-shooter situation. Those help employees understand the gravity of their roles.

"A lot of them walk away asking 'Do I want to do this job?'" Sinagra said.

State Police Capt. Robert Nuzzo said troopers have had ongoing active-shooter drills and active-shooter training with school districts throughout Ulster and Greene counties.

But on the Friday after Sandy Hook, Nuzzo said he called every police chief in the area to discuss what more could be done. More random stops at schools by officers came out of those conversations.

"The idea is, we encourage officers to stop in to as many schools in your post," Nuzzo said.

Along with more random stops, Nuzzo said individual districts have taken their own actions.

Marlborough Central School District for instance, Nuzzo said, has provided an "office of convenience" inside its schools for police.

The office gives officers a chance to stop by at the school for a longer period of time and have more of a base inside the school, Nuzzo said.

Even without a base office, Nuzzo said, his troopers are told to make their presence known to schools.